


One Final Race

by 56leon



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Character Death, Female Titan arc spoilers, Gen, Horses, I want to put gender mislabeling but it's a horse so yeah, POV First Person, Spoilers, her name's not Clyde
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 10:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/56leon/pseuds/56leon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>De-anon from the SNK Kink Meme.</p>
<p>Prompt was: "I want a fic where we can see inside the minds of the courageous horses of the scouting legion. Whether or not they take after the personalities of their owners is up to the author. I'm expecting and would love crack, but if you could throw in something serious too, that would be amazing."</p>
<p>My take on it: "Let's make it from the horse's POV, and watch this fill slowly spiral into depression!" Needless to say, this ends up being a Not Happy Fic.</p>
<p>Spoilers through the Forest arc, including scenes not yet shown in the anime.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Final Race

They say that history is told through the point of view of the heroes. Unfortunately, that isn't always true. Sometimes, the best of heroes are thrown to the background and used as an extra pair or two of legs while their owners decide to take all the glory.

But hey, that's just me.

"Let's go, Clyde," my owner said, gripping the reigns tightly in his hands as he led me to get prepped for our next mission. I nickered at him, and several of the other mounts whinnied their laughter.

_My name's not Clyde!_  I snorted, even though I knew that the dumb-as-balls human in front of me wouldn't understand.  _How do you even give me a masculine name? Do these two-legged idiots not know what a horse genital looks like?_  My complaints went on until I caught sight of...oh humanshit. It was  _him_.

_Having fun with your new owner, Clyde?_  I bared my teeth at the horse in front of me. It was never fun going on a mission, having to carry a person on your back at breakneck speed for several hours, but this was just pushing it. Black Dynamite had the most inflated ego in the stable, and that was before you factor in the fact that he belonged to Lance Corporal Rivaille.

_Oh yes,_  I replied sarcastically,  _absolutely. I love how he's taller than a foal!_  Dynamite snorted at me, and I turned my attention to one of the more amicable horses, a lovely ronan-coated mare named Lucy.  _Hey, Luce! Do you know what we're doing?_

_I've heard rumors that we're planning a route to retake Zhiganshina,_  was her reply, and I whinnied thoughtfully, bending over to chew thoughtfully on some grass.

"Is everything all set?" I heard the Corporal's voice, and several "yeses" followed. Somebody patted my rear, and I turned to bite at them. Nobody needs to touch my hindquarters, unless I was getting brushed. I felt the weight of my dumb human owner land on my saddle, and rolled my eyes. Without another word to any of the horses, I reared back onto my hind legs - a warning,  _don't get cocky with me, Yaeger-owner_  - and we were off.

An hour or two into the ride, the twins in the back started complaining.  _Are we theeere yeeeet?_  Motor and Vincent whined in unison, and Dynamite turned his head slightly, growling at them.

_Don't make me turn this Corporal around,_  he said loudly, and I snickered, deciding to throw in my own two cents.

_But daaaaad! It feels like we've been running for daaaaays!_

_Clyde, I swear to Pegasus I will-_  He stopped suddenly, as confused as the rest of us had become.  _Why are we going into the forest?_  His voice had suddenly went up several octaves.  _WHY ARE WE GOING INTO THE FOREST?_

_Why don't you ask your master?_  I shot back at him, trying to hide the fact that I was just as scared as he was. The only reason we would be going into the forest...we had to be steered this way, and if we were going in, that meant that a majority of either flanks were either wiped out, or were going to be soon.

We were well into the forest when my answer was shown to all of us. The footsteps were barely noticeable at first, but soon, we could feel the vibrations as though they were each a separate earthquake.  _It's an aberrant!_  Motor shouted.  _Shit! She's gaining on us! Guys, we gotta move-move-move it!_

My eyes flicked over to Rivaille, but he looked unfazed. I nudged Dynamite's hindquarters softly, and he nodded. He was just as worried for his master as the rest of us were for ourselves.  _Clyde,_  he said suddenly,  _watch out for Yaeger. Make sure he comes out alive._  I frowned. Why would he say something like that?  _Just do it!_

As soon as he finished his sentence, I felt a sudden change in the atmosphere, and whinnied in panic as several harpoons flew past me, barely missing Eren and I.  _Do you think they got it?_  Lucy questioned, but nobody answered her. We were scared to jinx it.

The Corporal flew off of Dynamite soon after, and he was tethered to me as we ran on.  _I...I think it's over,_  I said finally.  _There's no way Rivaille will let the thing out alive._

_He will._  We were all stunned by the certainty in his voice.  _Claire, don't let panic overtake you, okay? Stay strong for Yaeger._

The only time he ever called me by my proper name was in a time of serious danger, when he took the proverbial reigns and made sure we were all in check. Something was going on, but he wouldn't tell us what it was. Why?

Before I could get a word out, the world seemed to crash around us.  _She's back!_  Vincent shrieked, his despair growing as he felt his rider's weight disappear.  _They're gearing! Why the hell are they gearing?!_

One by one, the others geared away, leaving me with Yaeger. As the others risked their lives, I couldn't help but feel disgust for him.  _You disgust me!_  I shouted at him, but my non-human words were in vain.  _They're going to die trying to save you! And what do you do? Sit back and watch them get killed!_  Lucy shrieked as Petra was smashed against a tree, and I held back my disgust as blood flew all around me.

Suddenly, it was quiet. With the exception of the vibrations through the ground, there was no noise whatsoever. Even Eren had grown silent - in horror, I hoped, at what he had caused.

At that point, I didn't expect Eren to ever leave the saddle, but was surprised when his weight suddenly disappeared. As I turned around to see what had gotten into him - had he been eaten, finally? - I was met with a sight that I had never expected to see.

For what felt like hours, Eren Jaeger stayed suspended in mid-air, before a brilliant explosion overtook him.

I slowed to a trot, panicking as I turned to see what had happened.  _Eren!_  I whinnied, trying to see through the smoke.  _Eren!_

All too late did I realize that the substance blinding me wasn't smoke - it was steam.

In front of me rose a Titan, unlike any I had ever seen before. Still, I couldn't help but understand what had happened.  _Eren..._  I shook my head and determination coursed through me. He never gave up, I now realized it. And if he didn't, then neither could I.

As they crashed through the trees, I followed, a few meters away from them but travelling parallel to their trail. I raced through trees, barely dodging several large pieces of debris being thrown up from the battle between Titan and Titan.  _I will be there for Eren when he win,_  I swore to myself.

A whirring sound came to life, and I saw two figures in the treetops, gearing to catch up with the fighting behemoths.  _Help him!_  I urged them, for once cursing my horsespeech,  _please!_

As I observed the two humans, I didn't see the large clump of dirt that landed all too close to me. I reared up at the impact, falling onto my side as I lost balance.  _Clyde!_  I heard the worried voice of Lucy, and I struggled to get back up on my feet, growling lowly when I realized one of my legs was broken.

_You're injured, don't move,_  I heard Vincent's voice from behind me, and I laid my head down in response. I wasn't planning on it.

I closed my eyes, breathing slowly.  _Am I bleeding?_

_Yes._  There were several nickers from the others, but Dynamite shook his mane.  _There's no use lying to you, Claire. There's a lot of blood here._

I sighed, noting that he had used my real name once more. I wasn't going to make it.  _You guys all came back for me._

Motor whinnied sadly, nudging at my side.  _We couldn't leave you behind, Claire._  the others all sat around me, and I saw that Motor's snout was covered in blood.

_Heh,_  I muttered weakly,  _I can't feel a thing. How great is that?_

There was silence for a few moments, the only noise around us being the ongoing fight, which had grown farther away with each passing second. I heard one final massive roar -  _did you do it, Eren?_  - before it all turned silent.

I felt my eyes growing heavy, and Lucy nuzzled my head as it drooped even lower. As I rested on the hard ground, I laughed weakly.  _You know...you know what, guys?_

With the last of my strength, I looked over to where the Titans had retreated, and the others looked over with me.  _I think...I think maybe humans_ are _heroes, after all..._

Finally, I could sleep.


End file.
